Improvement in cotton-gins



E. OSGOOD.

Cotton Gin.

Patented Dec. 22 1863,

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ENOOH OSGOOD, OF NEVV'YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-GINS.

T0 aZZwhont it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENOOH Oscoon, of New York city, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Machine for Ginning Cotton and other Purposes; and I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View; Fig. 2, a transverse section. Fig. 8 represents the cleaner, a portion of the same being broken off, and shows the form of the teeth on the side of the cleaning-plate E nearer the elastic roller.

Letter H, Fig. 2, shows in a transverse section the end of the elastic roller, composed of a metallic core covered with india-rubber, and having a jacket of leather cemented around the whole to form a smooth surface, that will.

not become sticky by friction.

O is a leather endless apron; D, its guide to keep it in place, said apron having a corded edge for that purpose; 8, a friction-roller; 5, a tightening-roller under concave plate 13. 7 is a screw to adjust it to roller A; F, a screw in front for the same purpose; I, a screw to adjust the tightening-roller 5.

This invention is designed for the ginning of cotton, or, in other words, to separate the seeds from the fiber, and for other similar purposes. It relates to that class of gins which are called roller-gins.

The first part of my invention consists in the combination of an elastic roller and a concave adapted thereto, and a reciprocating cleaning-plate, E, the whole operating in such manner that the fiber is drawn in between the two surfaces of the concave B and the roller A. The roller,being elastic, maintains an equable grip upon the fiber, whether the quantity acted upon be large or small, while the seeds, which are drawn along with the fiber toward the entrance of the surfaces of the concaveB and the elastic roller A, are ejected by the teeth on the edge of the cleaning-plate E, which strips them out of the mass of material as it is drawn in between said roller and the concave.

The second part of the invention consists in the combination, with the first part thereof, of an endless belt or apron, O, which in a portion of its-path passes between the concave and a portion of the periphery of the elastic roller, so that the fiber is seized at its opposite sides by the apron and elastic roller, both of which are in motion at the same time.

The special object of the third part of the invention is to enable the machine to gin more cotton than ordinary gins; and it consists in combining the elastic roller A and the concave B, which form part of the first part of my invention, with a reciprocating cleaning-plate, E, which has a comb-tooth edge, so that the spaces between the teeth permit the fiber to pass free, while the seeds are ejected by the'teeth and edge of the cleaner The fourth part of my invention consists in the construction of the elastic roller A, which forms part of each of the preceding parts of the invention, and is made of metal covered with india-rubber or other suitable substance that will produce the same yielding effect, and covered with a jacket of leather or any other substance that will prevent its sticking by the friction to which it is subjected, so that all the advantages resulting from the use of the elastic substances are retained, while the defects are obviated. A powder may be applied for the same purpose in accordance with the invention.

The various operating parts of the machine aresecured to the frame composed of two ends or standards, L, connected by rods or bars M. The ends contain the bearingsin which the j ournals of the elastic roller revolve, and also the bearings of such other shafts as are required to impart motion to the various acting members of the gin or machine. The elastic roller may be two and a h alf inches (more or lesss) in diameter and eighteen inches long between its journals. Its barrels are horizontal, and extend between the two'ends of the frame, and one of its journals is extended through and beyond the end of the frame to receive a belt-pulley or a cog-wheel, to which the former is applied to give the machine motion.

The elastic roller A is formed of a core of metal, which also forms its journal. This core is surrounded with an elastic coat or a coat of vulcanized india-rubber, similar to that used for steam-packing, and around this is cemented a jacket of leather or any other substance that will prevent its sticking by the friction to which it is subjected. The concave may be made of any metal that can be hardened and polished smooth the polished surface fitting the curvature of the elastic roller A, its hard and smooth surface reducing the friction.

The concave B is of such shape that one of its faces lies in a plane which is nearly tan gential to the surface of the elastic roller, while its concave portion forms an acute angle with such face, and the reciprocating cleaning-plate E is arranged to move up and down in close proximity to this tangential face of the concave and to the elastic roller, so that the lower edge of the cleaning-plate teeth will pass and repass the line where the barrel of the elastic roller meets the upper sharp edge of the concave. The most convenient way of obtaining the reciprocating movement of the cleaning-plate is to connect the opposite ends by rods with a pair of cranks, G, secured to the same revolving shaft, so that as the shaft revolves the lower toothed edge of the cleaning-plate is caused to move up and down equally from end to end parallel with the roller and concave B. The stroke of the cleaning-plate may be siX-eighths of an inch, more or less. About three-eighths of it is above the edge of the concave and the remainder below that edge.

In order to feed the machine conveniently, an inclined feed-board, J, should be placed before the concave and the elastic roller. The inner edge of the feed-board is fitted with teeth which project to or near the face of the concave and form a grating, which prevents the passage of the fiber, but permits the seeds and other substances to drop through when they are ejected by the teeth and edge of the reciprocating cleaning-plate E, the teeth striking through the fiber behind the seeds as they are ejected.

In order that the machine may embody the several parts of my invention, it is provided with two (2) additional rollers, one roller, 8, of which is arranged behind the concave B, the other beneath it. An endless apron is then passed over this roller and over the concave, and the rollers are caused to revolve by gearing, so that the belt or apron will travel by friction up the tangential face of the concave, and between it and the elastic roller A with about the same speed of surface as the surface-speed of the elastie roller, said apron having a corded edge for its guide D to act on to keep it in place, said guide being secured to the concave bar B. This gin is to be used with or without said apron, as the case may require.

In order that my machine may embody the third part of my invention, the lower edge of the cleaning-plate E is formed into a row of teeth by grooving or fiuting out the face of the plate, which is nearer the elastic roller, into a continuous series of parallel grooves arranged perpendicularly to its lower edge, and by beveling off the lower outer edge, as shown at a, in order to afford a free passage of the fiber. The teeth so formed by grooving the plate are partially removed by hollowing out a part of the surface of them nearer the elastic roller," as shown at b in Fig. 4, to give room above the points for the fiber as it passes through between them. The dimensions of the elastic roller before mentioned are suitable for a hand-gin. In such cases the surface of the concave which fits the elastic roller may be from one-half of an inch to one inch and a half in breadth, as the case may require.

In machines to be driven by other power, the elastic roller and other parts may be increased in size, as deemed expedient.

In the operation of the machine, the fibers are seized by the moving surface of the elastic roller A against the concave B, and are drawn in between them, while the lower edge or teeth of the cleaning-plate E passes down through the fiber behind the seeds, and ejects them as fast as the fiber is drawn in. As the cleaning-plate rises, the fiber, which is drawn along continuously by the operation of the elastic roller against the concave, follows the rising points of the teeth of the cleaningplate; hence the speed of the cleaning-plate should be-sufficiently faster than that of the surface of the elastic roller to enable its teeth to rise to their highest position and redescend as far as the edge of the concave B by the time that part of the fiber upon which the cleaning-plate last acted is drawn up past the edge of the concave. A faster speed than this is not necessary, and requires a greater expenditure of power without materially afl'ecting the process of ginning. The cleaningplate is maintained in its position in front of its concave by its guides K, secured to each end of the gin in proper position to receive the projections at each end of the cleaning-plate E, and in place of connecting the cleaningplate E directly with the crank G, it may be connected with them through the intervention of toggle-jointed links H by rods N, so as to obtain two complete reciprocations of the cleaner for one revolution of the crank.

What I claim is 1. The combination of the elastic roller A and the concave plate or bar B, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the above, the endless apron O, as described.

3. Forming the teeth of the cleaner or doffer as and for the purpose described.

4. The belt or apron O, constructed as described, in combination with its guides D.

5. The combination of the elastic roller A, friction-roller 8, and apronO, as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination of rollers Aand 8, apron G, and tightening-roller 5, as and for the purpose herein described.

ENOOH OSGOOD.

WVitnesses:

J. N. DICKINSON, Aueusrus STnvENs. 

